The Bar's stipulated order, issued Friday, says Foster "sought to avoid any political consequences" by denying his involvement to Department of Justice officials.

But it noted that he had no disciplinary record and made "timely good faith efforts to rectify the misconduct."

The Bar's lightest discipline is a public reprimand. Its suspensions range from 30 days to 5 years.

Foster, an environmental attorney, led Columbia Riverkeeper before joining Kroger's office. He declined Wednesday to comment on the reasons for his conduct or other details of the Hood River case, saying doing so could violate attorney-client privilege.

Foster took the sample, which showed extraordinarily high levels of pollution, on Oct. 9, 2009. His involvement wasn't illegal. But it wasn't mentioned in an affidavit that led to a court-approved warrant to search Hood River Juice.

The affidavit said Rachael Pecore, a former colleague of Foster's at Columbia Riverkeeper, took the sample. Pecore was with Foster when he took the sample, and court records indicate she told investigators on several occasions that she took it.

In a later court hearing, Pecore noted the political pressures on Foster, who was under scrutiny for potential conflicts between his role in Kroger's office and his opposition to liquid natural gas terminals in Oregon.

In April 2010, Foster learned that a Department of Justice prosecutor assisting in the Hood River case planned to call Pecore as a witness in a hearing later that month. He urged the prosecutor not to use the sample as evidence, but did not say that he collected the sample or that Pecore's prior statements to investigators were wrong.

Three days later, he denied taking the sample when confronted by other DOJ officials. A week later, he admitted it and resigned.

Prosecutors dropped the charges related to the sample. David B. Ryan, Hood River Juice's owner, pleaded guilty last year to two unrelated misdemeanor pollution counts.